The invention relates to a method of navigating in a graphical user interface, particularly in the context of a device for receiving or viewing digital television. The invention also relates to a device for implementing this method.
In step with the evolution of the functions of audio-visual apparatus and of the services offered by this medium, the development of effective interfaces between this apparatus and the users becomes a crucial problem. This type of interface, intended for what are essentially consumer products, needs to be simple while giving access to the available services and functions in a rapid and intuitive way. Moreover, the constraints relating to the control devices have to be taken into account. Whereas, in the past, remote controls had a tendency to become ever more complex with a proliferation of buttons, the complexity is transferred to the user interface, whether graphical or not, controlled by the use of a remote control which is in itself fairly simple. As a consequence, the principles of navigation in the menus and through the tree structure of these menus must allow the use of relatively simple remote controls, which can be a restraint on the flexibility of the user interface.
The subject of the invention is a method of navigating in a graphical user interface, characterized in that it comprises the stages:
of displaying graphical elements which can be selected using a cursor,
of connecting at least two of said graphical elements using linear segments, a first and a second element being connected by a single link composed of one or more segments placed in series,
of shifting the cursor from a first element to a second element, when the direction key of a control means corresponding uniquely to the orientation of the segment connected at the point of departure from the first element is pressed, there being at most one segment having an orientation corresponding to a given direction key connected to a given element.
According to one particular embodiment, more than two segments linked end-to-end link two elements, forming a broken line.
According to one particular embodiment, the user interface includes a list of elements forming a set having common functional characteristics, the cursor being shifted within said set by using two opposite direction keys, a third element being attached to said set by at least one linear segment the orientation of which at the point of departure from said set is such that it allows the cursor to be shifted from said set towards said third element using one of the two direction keys used for navigation within the set when said element possesses the same functional characteristics as the elements of the set and such that it allows the cursor to be shifted from said set towards said third element using a direction key other than the two keys already used when this is not the case.
According to one particular embodiment, a group of graphical elements linked by linear segments forms a chain, said group including elements used in several screens of said interface, said group being placed at an identical site in each of said screens.
According to one particular embodiment, the linear segment at the point of departure from a fourth element of one of said screens towards said group of elements has an orientation which changes from screen to screen depending on the functional characteristics of said fourth element.
According to one particular embodiment, when an element is linked to a list of elements, it is linked, as appropriate, to the selected element of this list.
According to one particular embodiment said linear segment is a segment of line.
According to one particular embodiment, two elements are connected via a bend consisting of at least two perpendicular linear segments of different directions connected in series.
A further subject of the invention is a digital television receiving device including a graphical user interface and comprising means for control of said interface, said control means including means for indicating a direction, characterized in that said interface includes:
a cursor,
graphical elements which can be selected using said cursor, at least two of said graphical elements being linked by the use of linear segments, a first and second element being connected by a single link composed of one or more segments connected in series, said cursor being apt to be shifted from a first element towards a second element when a direction corresponding to the orientation of the segment at the point of departure from the first element is indicated by the use of said control means, there being at most one segment having an orientation corresponding to a given direction connected to a given element.